Nero nodded. “Good,” he said again.
“I’m so glad that you’re you and not Nyx.” I made a face. “Or Colonel Fireswift.”
“Fireswift?”
“He was one of your potential imposters.”
“I don’t like to imagine you biting Fireswift.”
“Neither do I. If his personality is any indication, he probably tastes like lighter fluid.” I smiled coyly at him. “I prefer my Nero.”
I threw my arms around him and hugged him to me, feeling downright giddy, even drunk. That was his blood at work. I’d only had a sip, but a sip of Nero’s blood was all it took to send me to cloud nine. My lack of dinner after a day of hard labor wasn’t doing much for my sanity either. And I was just so happy to see him, to have him with me once again. That, more than anything, compelled me to be bold. I leaned in to kiss his lips.
“Stop,” he said, our mouths only inches apart.
“Why?” I said wickedly, my tongue tracing my lower lip.
“It’s not appropriate.”
I plunged my hands down his back and gave his butt a good, hard squeeze. “That’s the whole point, Nero. Being appropriate isn’t all that much fun.”
Gold and silver magic shimmered inside his green eyes. “Those are the words of an anarchist.”
“Guilty as charged.” Grinning, I met his eyes. “So, the question remains, what are you going to do about it?”
“If you can still tease me, you didn’t work hard enough today. And you obviously haven’t repented enough.”
“That’s what I told you. Hence my plan to take another run around the island.”
“We agreed that you would stop bullshitting me.”
“No, we didn’t,” I laughed. “You agreed with yourself and expected me to just follow along.”
“The chain of command is not a diamond necklace, Pandora. Following orders is the keystone of a functional military.”
“But not of a functional relationship,” I countered.
He blinked. “You’re right.”
“I get it—all that you’re saying about not picking favorites, about being detached. Out in training, in front of everyone, you have to be as tough on me as you are on the others. Maybe even tougher. Fine. I can deal with that. But in here, when we’re alone, you’re not General Windstriker, an archangel in the Legion of Angels. You are just Nero. And I’m just Leda. Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. I know something is up. Something big. Why are you here instead of Colonel Dragonblood? What happened to him? Is it the demons? Did they hurt him because he is key to training the Legion’s soon-to-be angels? Or is he on a mission to strike out at the demons and their forces?”
A calculating smile twisted his lips. “Tit for tat, Pandora. First, tell me why you’re going out running in the middle of the night.”
“It really bothers you not knowing something, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“And if I said I just need the extra training?”
“I would agree with that statement.”
I snorted. Nero firmly believed that you could never train too long or too hard.
“However,” Nero continued. “It is not the reason you are headed into a monster-infested jungle again.”
His singleminded stubbornness to uncover what I was up to brought me right back to the day I’d signed up to join the Legion. Nero had taken me aside and interrogated me because he’d been convinced I had some ulterior motive for joining, some secret reason that was different than what I’d stated on my application. He hadn’t been able to figure out what it was, and that had really bothered him.
“It’s stupid,” I sighed.
Nero waited, watching me like a dragon watched his treasure—with unyielding patience.
“You’ll laugh at me,” I said.
“I will not.”
“I’m hungry. No, not just hungry. Famished,” I gasped. “And by the time I got back from my run around the island, the canteen was closed.”
“And you believe running will take your mind off your hunger.” He nodded in approval.
“No. I fear my hunger is far beyond that point. Running will only make me even hungrier. But the jungle was teeming with beasts.” I gave him a sheepish look. “Some of them looked edible.”
Nero laughed.
I punched him in the shoulder. “Hey! You promised you wouldn’t laugh.”
He quickly reformed his face into a completely neutral expression.
“Ok, now you know my big secret. It’s your turn.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Spill the beans about Colonel Dragonblood.”
“Colonel Dragonblood is not injured, and he’s not going after the demons, dark angels, or their Dark Force. His mission is of a completely different nature.”
“You said his mission was crucial to the Legion’s survival.”
“And it is. His wife has the Fever.”
The Fever. A term that referred to the time in which a female Legion soldier was fertile. It only happened every few decades. When it did, she had a window of only a few days to become pregnant. The Legion matched angels to soldiers who were magically compatible. Colonel Dragonblood’s wife was married to an angel, which meant their offspring would have a high magic potential. There was a good chance those children would later become angels themselves. Colonel Dragonblood’s mission was indeed important to the Legion’s survival.
“Since Colonel Dragonblood will be busy for the next week, Nyx asked me to take his place,” Nero said.
That made sense. Only Colonel Dragonblood could go on his mission. But any number of angels were qualified to fill in for him at Crystal Falls, at least until he could return. Nero was high on that list of angels.
I suddenly felt very foolish for assuming some great scheme was playing out here. My life had been far too exciting lately; I was starting to see conspiracies everywhere.
“Well, I suppose I’d rather have you training us than Colonel Fireswift,” I said with a coy smile.
“You suppose?” he repeated, looking offended.
Nero and Colonel Fireswift were rivals, each one constantly vying to best the other.
“I’m thinking of my aching muscles, Nero. Colonel Fireswift has a shitty personality, but I can ignore his derisive comments. You are actually the tougher trainer. It hurts a lot more after one of your trainings than after one of his.”
“I should hope so,” he said, puffing out his chest proudly.
My eyes dipped to that chest, appreciating the delicious ripples of muscle under his black leather uniform. I licked my lips.
“Pandora?” My nickname rolled off his tongue like a drop of warm honey.
“I’m suddenly finding myself suffering from a different kind of hunger.”
“That would be a bad idea,” he said, his chuckle low and deep in his chest.
“I know. Sooo bad.” My fingers closed around the zipper of his leather vest.
He set his hands on my hips. He was so close. The deliciously masculine flavor of sex and angel seared my senses, the scent of hot spice teasing my nose. My fangs burned my gums. Lust and hunger collided, cascading through me.
I dipped my mouth to his neck. Every beat of his heart, every throb of his pulse against my lips, was a fresh lash of torture. His blood popped against my fangs, inciting me to madness. Daring me to taste him.
“Stop playing around, Pandora, and bite me,” he growled in fervent command.
Who said I didn’t follow orders?
My previous bite had been restrained, a mere taste to see if he really was Nero. I hadn’t allowed myself to truly dive in. I did now.
I sank my fangs into his neck. His blood rushed into my mouth, hot and sweet with just the right kick of spice. Nero’s blood didn’t taste like blood at all. It tasted sweeter than honey—and more potent than Nectar, the immortal food of the gods. His blood slid down my throat, a river of fire, both a cure and a curse for the reckless desire raging inside of me. Like two volatile elements,
his blood and mine collided in an explosion that shook the very fabric of my being. I could hardly stand, barely breathe, and I absolutely had to have more. If I was an addict, Nero was my drug of choice.
Gripping him tightly, I pulled back just far enough to meet his eyes. I brushed my hair off my shoulder and tilted my neck, baring it to him. “Tit for tat,” I said drunkenly.
Emerald fire lit up his eyes. Dual flashes of pain and pleasure pierced me as his fangs penetrated my skin. Every time he drew me into him, my body quaked, a deep, penetrating throb rocking me from head to toe, inside and out. The only thing better than biting Nero was for him to bite me back. I was drowning in fire, overdosing on euphoria—and I was two hundred percent ok with that.
Nero’s hands rounded my butt, diving roughly under my skirt to relieve me of my panties. “I need you. Now,” he growled against my neck, his voice rough, almost ragged.
Lust washed over me, leaving me feverish, dizzy. We’d only been apart for a week, but I knew exactly how he felt.
“I need you too,” I said, tugging his shirt over his head.
A knock sounded on my door.
Nero abruptly dropped his hands to his sides. “It’s Nyx.”
“As always, the First Angel’s timing is impeccable,” I growled under my breath.
I brushed down my skirt, then opened the door.
Dressed in black leather armor and a long red cape, the force of Nyx’s aura filled up all the available space around her. She’d already taken over the whole hallway, and her presence pounded like a war hammer through the open door, now claiming my room as well.
Without uttering a word, Nyx entered the room. Her black hair, pulled up in a high ponytail, floated in the air, suspended as though it were floating underwater. The silver heels of her high boots snapped against the deafening silence. Only after she’d shut the door behind her did she finally speak.
Nyx’s blue eyes panned up my body. “You’re missing your underwear, Captain.”
My cheeks flushed, I grabbed my lacy red panties from the floor and slipped them on under my skirt. I always seemed to be losing my underwear around Nero.
“And there’s blood on your neck,” Nyx pointed out.
I grabbed the towel off the back of my chair and wiped the blood off my neck.
Nyx’s gaze shifted to Nero. “There’s blood on your neck too, General.”
Neither flushed nor unraveled, Nero calmly wiped down his neck. His tongue darted out to lick the blood from his lips. The sight of him licking up my blood, devouring my life force, made my heart skip a beat. Heat flushed my skin. Nero’s tongue flicked across his lips once more, meeting my eyes as he licked up the final drop of my blood.
Nyx’s gaze flickered between Nero and me. “When I sent you here to take over for Colonel Dragonblood, Nero, I told you to keep it professional,” she sighed.
So that was why Nero had been so aloof. It hadn’t been his own idea. Nyx had instructed him to act that way. And now I’d gotten him in trouble. Again. Oops.
“Oh, don’t worry,” I told Nyx. “He’s totally professional. He’s been torturing me thoroughly all day.”
Gold flashed in Nyx’s blue eyes. Her dark brows lifted.
“Torturing me in training,” I added hastily. “This was just a…”
“A reward for good behavior?” Nyx suggested, her eyes dancing with amusement.
Was she laughing at me?
“This was a deviation,” I amended. “Totally my fault. I’m a bad influence.”
“Oh, I am well aware of that. Before you, Nero walked the straight and narrow path without any trouble whatsoever.” Nyx waved us toward the door. “Well, come along then. I have a little midnight surprise for everyone.”
I glanced at Nero. The look on his face told me he didn’t have a clue what the First Angel was up to. It seemed her arrival was as much a surprise to him as it was to me.
We followed her down the long hallway, passing into the training building. Jace and the other five Legion brats were already waiting in the gym. And at the center of the training hall, high on a raised platform, stood the seven ruling gods.
4
Seven Gods & Seven Angels
Ten gods, dressed in the white-and-gold armor of Heaven’s Army, surrounded the raised platform where the seven ruling gods stood. The warrior gods were poised like tigers—silent, unmoving, and ready to spring into action at any moment to defend the gods’ council.
“Soldiers of the Legion of Angels,” said Valora, the Queen Goddess, leader of the gods’ council and ruler of heaven. “We have come to you at a critical junction.”
Valora was the quintessential goddess: a tall, slender woman with long, perfectly-curled golden hair that looked as soft as her white silk-and-chiffon gown. Her cheeks were rosy, her lips glossy red, and her skin alight with a heavenly glow. Her hair and dress flowed gently in an airy, magical breeze that seemed to be confined solely to her body. Pearls beaded her slippers; diamonds dripped from her earrings and necklaces like tears.
“Recent events have shocked the Legion’s foundations,” Valora continued. “The demons have killed an angel. They have killed many other soldiers who would have become angels. They’re trying to weaken the Legion. They know how important you are to the gods’ presence on Earth. We cannot allow the demons to succeed in their ploys. And so the gods’ council has decided that we must take an active role in bolstering the Legion, to make you ready for the inevitable confrontation.”
Aleris, the God of Nature and Emperor of the Elements, spread his arms. A flock of blue butterflies burst out of the flowering vines that crisscrossed his chest and arms, woven seamlessly into his robes like a set of armor.
“And to make the Legion ready, we need a new angel to replace your fallen comrade Colonel Battleborn,” Aleris said.
“Not since the dawn of the Legion, have we lost so many soldiers to the Dark Force,” said Zarion, the God of Faith and Lord of the Pilgrims.
Even as far as gods went, Zarion was ostentatious. Hundreds of tiny gemstones were braided into his long platinum hair; the sparkling rubies, amethysts, and sapphires matched perfectly with the shimmering fabric of his gaudy robes.
“In these dark times, we don’t just need our soldiers to be stronger than ever before,” Maya began.
“We need our angels to be stronger too,” Meda finished seamlessly, the twin sister goddesses perfectly in sync.
Maya, the Goddess of Healing, and Meda, the Goddess of Technology, were virtually indistinguishable. It was only their different fashion styles that allowed me to tell them apart. Maya, the patron goddess of fairies, wore a short whimsical dress, a long cape, and tiny sandals. The belt around her waist was stocked with potions and medical instruments.
As the patron Goddess of Witchcraft, Meda dressed a lot like the witches I knew. Today, she wore a red-and-black corset over a bell-sleeved white blouse with a plunging neckline. Her skirt, mini in front with a long, blossoming train in back, matched her gold top hat perfectly. Her shoes were buckled, her thigh-high stockings black, and her exposed garter belts adorned with big bows.
“That is why you are all here,” said Ronan, the God of Earth’s Army and Lord of the Legion of Angels. “Colonel Battleborn’s death has left his territory without a leader. It is vulnerable, and therefore so is the entire Earth. Before this training is over, one of you will become an angel and take Colonel Battleborn’s place. And the rest of you will be far stronger than you are now.”
Ronan was the tallest man I’d ever seen. Even next to the other gods, he looked massive, the highest peak in a cluster of giant mountains. His eyes were as black as his hair—and as dark as the battle leather he now wore.
“To that end, we, the gods’ council, have taken control of the Crystal Falls training, effective immediately,” said Faris, the dark-haired God of Heaven’s Army.
His white-and-gold armor shone so brightly, it was almost blinding. Like Ronan, he controlled an army. Except Faris’s sold
iers were all gods—and they fought the demons’ army on every world the immortals of light clashed with the deities of darkness.
“We will determine how you shall train,” Faris continued. “We will set the tasks. And we will determine who will become the next angel to join the Legion’s ranks.”
Excitement bubbled and popped off the other Crystal Falls training candidates. Nyx’s reaction was very different. She was trying to hide it, but I could see in her eyes that she wasn’t happy. Of course she wasn’t. She was the First Angel. She was supposed to be running things at the Legion. She decided who would become an angel. By coming here, by taking over, the gods’ were effectively stripping her of her authority.
“You will, however, find our training style to be more strenuous than anything you’re accustomed to,” Faris said.
Nero met his cool gaze, obviously not pleased by the assertion that his training sessions were anything but completely strenuous.
I wasn’t a fan of the heavy-handed, over-the-top dramatic way the gods were taking over here. And yet… Wasn’t it good that the Legion’s new angel would be trained by the gods? Wasn’t it important for all of us to be as strong as we could possibly be?
“Upon careful examination, we’ve determined that the Legion’s training program, as it currently stands, is not sufficient to face the demons’ Dark Force,” Faris said. “Their soldiers are consistently more powerful at each magic level than our own, due to their intense training regimen—one that we must not only match, but beat. We will be implementing new standards all across the line, and we will start with the top. Seven angels will be training right along with you.” Faris glanced at Nero. “And I will not tolerate them winging it.”
Oh, this was getting better and better. The gods weren’t just taking over at Crystal Falls; they were dragging angels back into basic training. Faris’s lame joke aside—assuming the god actually had enough humor in him to make a joke—this was big. Angels commanded. They were supposed to be above the rest of us.
Apparently not anymore. Faris had just sent those angels back down to Earth.
Fairy’s Touch: Legion of Angels: Book 7 Page 4